For millennia, moving goods from one distant land to another has always been either by sea (on boats and ships) or by land (through animal-powered or wheeled vehicles). Recently, another mode of transportation has officially made it on the list—by air. After all, it is undeniable how fast airplanes could go, so it’s no wonder more and more manufacturers are trying out this option.
Shipping by Air Is Limited and Expensive
Despite the slightly rising popularity of airfreight services, it’s still far from being accepted as a standard cargo delivery solution. The main reason for this is that airplanes cannot carry too much weight. They may be fast but their capacity is so much more limited than that of ships, or even large trucks. Planes are only suitable for light load. Unless bigger planes become as commercially available and equally affordable as traditional cargo delivery options, this will remain to be the last resort for freight forwarders.
Why Shipping by Sea Is Still the Best Option
Apart from the explanation above, there are other apparent reasons why it may be best to stick to the traditional mode of delivery, which is by sea.
Ships are very large. Each trip of a large container ship requires millions of gallons of fuel. This is why container shipping lines make sure to maximize the loading capacity of their ships. In fact, they’ve been building bigger ships to accommodate more containers and therefore reduce the number of trips. Unlike a plane that can barely lift three containers yet use up hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel, a container ship can carry up to 15,000 boxes in a single trip for just a few hundred thousand gallons of fuel more.
Shipping Is Way Less Expensive. Air freight services usually cost much more than container shipping services, and that’s mainly because it’s so much faster, probably a couple of days depending on the destination. Each container shipping trip, on the other hand, may take weeks to over a month depending on the distance between ports. And this is why it is so much less expensive than transporting by air.
Shipping Leaves the Smallest Carbon Footprint. As mentioned before, a container ship may use up millions of gallons of fuel. When divided by the number of shipping containers a single ship can carry, the result represents the amount of fuel a single container needs to travel that distance at sea. Compared to how much gas it would take a truck carrying a single container from a port in Houston to a distributor in Dallas, it will still be so much less.
Now you know why shipping by sea is still the most preferred method of transporting goods. If you’re looking to put up your own import/export business, you can save a lot of money with this option. However, you have to make sure that the shipping containers for sale you will purchase are of high-quality. Only reputable suppliers in Texas, such as Equipment Management Services, can meet your needs.
Sources:
How Much Oil Is on That Ship?, response.restoration.noaa.gov
Ten Legitimately Fascinating Facts About the Shipping Industry, theatlantic.com
